


Every Occasion, Once More

by Duck_Life



Category: X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Wakes & Funerals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-06
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2020-04-11 22:51:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19119310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duck_Life/pseuds/Duck_Life
Summary: United Nations officially calls off search for the radical mutant activists known as the X-Men and declares them dead. World celebrates.Bits and pieces from the world post-Disassembled. (Spoilers for Rosenberg's Uncanny run.)





	1. Rahne Sinclair's Funeral

“Do you… do you remember when Rahne found those god-awful gowns in the attic?” Illyana says, eyes misty at the memory.

“She made us try them on,” Dani recalls. “She wanted to look like a princess. She always wanted to be a princess.”

Illyana scoffs. “She wanted us  _ all  _ to be princesses. We had to put on those frilly things, and we just had to grin and bear or—”

“Or Big Brother Sam would be on our case,” Dani says. “I remember.” She glances down. Her own outfit is sleek and simple— a blazer and a black dress. Illyana is dressed in something a little more old-fashioned, with lace at the collar and cuffs. “Damn,” Dani sighs. “She did it again, didn't she? She got both of us back in dresses.”

“Yeah… I guess she did,” Illyana says, and she laughs, and she cries. 


	2. Stevie Hunter Gets a Phone Call

Magneto told him once, told him about what the encounter with the Beyonder had done to the New Mutants, and how they'd looked and acted. Despondent, emotionless. Empty. 

They're like that now, and Scott doesn't have a damn idea how to fix them. Magneto is gone. Whatever the O*N*E did to them, he can't fix it and he doesn't know what to do. 

So in the end, he calls someone who knows the New Mutants better than he ever did. 

“Hello?” Stevie Hunter says when she picks up the phone. 

“Stevie. Hi,” Scott says. “I need—”

“Who's this?”

“... It's Scott. Scott Summers.”  _ Click _ .

He tries again. 

“Ms. Hunter, listen, I've got some of your old students here and—”

“No,  _ you  _ listen, I don't know who you are or how you got this number but I don't tolerate threats and I absolutely don't have the time to deal with some punk crank-calling me, using a dead man's name to try and get a rise out of me.”

“Dani Moonstar is in trouble,” Scott says when she pauses for breath. “And Rahne Sinclair, Illyana Rasputin, Xi'an Coy Manh. They need you.”

He can hear her on the other end, breathing, deliberating. “ _ Who is this _ ?”

“I told you. It's Scott Summers,” he says. “I know you don't believe me. You have no reason to believe me. But the New Mutants need your help.”

“... You were dead.”

“I got better.”

Stevie huffs. “Where are you?” Scott rattles off an address, thanks her. Times are weird. Bad. He doesn't have many, if any, allies here. 

It's good to hear a familiar voice, even if they aren't exactly old friends. 

* * *

When Stevie lays eyes on him, she just laughs and shakes her head. “You look good.”

“I crawled out of my own grave a month ago,” Scott points out. “So. Thank you.”

“God,” she sighs, shaking her head. “I should've just been a normal dance teacher. I could've fucked off to California or North Carolina or something, left all this insanity behind.”

“And then where would the X-Men be?” Scott points out, taking her coat. 

Stevie levels her gaze at him. “Where  _ are  _ the X-Men?”

That prickly, gnawing feeling he's had since standing on the beach rises up. “That's… a difficult question,” he admits. 

“Then I'll ask an easier one: where are the New Mutants?”

Scott points. Stevie walks. 


	3. Dr. Reyes Speaks Out Against the Mutant Vaccine

“We vaccinate children against polio and chicken pox,” one reporter says, jockeying for a position among the other press vultures. “Why not this?”

“Mutation is not a disease,” Cecilia says, gripping the sides of the podium. “It is a condition, one that some people struggle with, but what mutants need is compassion, understanding and  _ resources _ , not a vaccine.”

“Dr. Reyes, what about parents who just want to give their children better opportunities?” another reporter asks. “After all, mutant children can never dream about growing up to become doctors or lawyers.”

“Actually…” And here it is. This whole time she’s been speaking out and making waves, playing the activist role she never in a million years wanted. But she’s been keeping the biggest wave held back. Maybe it’s time for that to end. “Mutants can grow up to be anything they want. Me? I’m a doctor. And I’m a mutant, and damn proud of it.”


	4. World Mourns

There is a wall in Central Park, in the ruins of the X-Mansion, covered in photos. They aren’t framed, just fastened to the wall with Scotch tape and Command strips. Some of them, like in the cases of Trevor Hawkins, Lin Li and David Alleyne, are school-sanctioned portraits, posed and perfect, with awkward smiles and stiff postures. Others are candids salvaged from cell phones and social media. Glob Herman lounging by the lake in Westchester. Kurt Wagner beaming outside a movie theater. Martha Johannson hovering near the ceiling of the rec room. 

The photos at the very top are of Jean Grey and Ororo Munroe. Jean’s is from a press junket, her stern smile representing the future of the X-Men while she gives a speech, and Ororo’s is an older photo, taken in the summertime while sunlight streams through her stark white hair.

In front of the wall of photos are hundreds and hundreds of roses, lilies, carnations, cards, wreaths and bouquets. Some people have left crosses, others have left Bamf dolls and action figures modeled after Laura Kinney. Dazzler CDs and Magneto Was Right t-shirts are piled up as well. 

The wall collects trinkets and dust while mutants and mutant supporters wait for their heroes to return. 


	5. Shades of Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SPOILERS for War of the Realms: Uncanny X-Men #3

The sky outside Dani’s bedroom window is ash-gray, and she can see Magneto waiting in the car. “You ready?” Bobby asks from the doorway. 

“Mm? Yeah,” she says, wiping her eyes. “Hey… I should’ve thought of this earlier, probably, but d’you think we should stop by a florist, get Mrs. Bodine some flowers? Be the right thing to do, right?”

Bobby just stares at her. “You… you mean Mrs. Ramsey?”

Dani’s heart feels like a dried peach pit, shriveled, hard as stone. “Right. Sorry,” she says, shaking her head. “Mrs. Ramsey. I don’t know why I… never mind.”

“I think Sam took care of that,” he says, his voice soft. Xi’an used to tell them to use “library voices” when they were shouting over each other. “Are you okay, Chief?”

Dani straightens her shoulders and bluffs. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me, Bobby, that’s not your job. It’s my job to worry about you.” 

“I figure we could all use as much worrying as we can get,” he points out, and he ropes an arm around her, and they go downstairs to see if the rest of the New Mutants are ready in their funeral attire. 

* * *

_ Dani? _

She realizes that Roberto— Roberto’s  _ spirit _ — has probably been saying her name for name for a full minute now, but she’s been too lost, too dazed.  _ Dani? _

“Yeah,” she mumbles, bracing her hands on her knees. In life, Bobby glowed inky-black, a solar flare, a corona. In death he is muted and pale, a shade of his true self. “Yeah, I’m here.”

_ It wasn’t your fault _ .

And Dani doesn’t even have an answer to that. Rahne was buried hours ago, closed casket because of what those bastards did to her and because no decent embalmer in Westchester County wants to get mixed up in mutie affairs, and Dani is so colossally  _ tired _ . 

_ Rahney’s at peace now. _

“Like you?” Dani says bitterly. 

_ It’s not my fault a stubborn Valkyrie won’t let me go. _

Dani’s shoulders shake with sobs and Roberto can’t even put a hand on her back to comfort her. He’s little more than a memory. “I’m not ready,” Dani says.

_ You can fight death but you can’t beat death _ , he reminds her.

Dani says, “I just need some time.” 


End file.
